Vixens 48 Magic 40
The Waikato/Bay of Plenty Magic's road to redemption after a disappointing 2009 season has hit an early blockade after they fell to last year's premiers the Melbourne Vixens in a low-scoring slog fest last night.
The Magic threw everything they had at the Vixens, with all 10 members of their travelling squad (two players were left back at home to play in the Lois Muir Challenge) given a run.
Roundly criticised last season for largely sticking with the same seven players all year, coach Noeline Taurua went to the other extreme in Melbourne last night.
But it did not pay off, with the Magic unable to settle into any sort of rhythm in their attacking end.
With the Vixens looking untidy in patches themselves due to an injury-disrupted build-up, the Magic had a good chance of notching up a rare victory on Australian soil had they taken a more-settled approach.
While happy to take away the two points, dynamic Vixens shooter Sharelle McMahon admitted that her side were rusty in patches.
"It was a game of ebbs and flows to both sides. Obviously we're extremely happy with the win, but we'll go back and work on a few things that didn't work out for us tonight," she said.
Largely unsighted in the pre-season, the Magic sprung a couple of surprises in their starting line-up, with Jess Tuki getting the nod at goal-shoot, forcing Irene van Dyk out to goal-attack.
The "twin towers" approach is a move Taurua has tried in previous seasons, with limited success.
And while last night the ploy initially looked to throw the Vixens, by halftime the Melbourne defensive pairing of Bianca Chatfield and Demelza McCloud, a late inclusion in place of injured star Julie Corletto, appeared to have the measure of the Magic attack.
Van Dyk was guilty of getting too caught up in running around and throwing herself at every ball, which diverted her attention away from what she does best: scoring goals.
Up until the last five minutes before halftime the Magic looked strong, opening out a 20-15 lead on the back of some strong defensive work from Casey Williams, Jodi Tod and import Peta Scholz.
But as Tuki's accuracy dropped, the Magic's attack came unstuck and the home side took advantage, going on an 8-1 scoring run to take a 23-21 halftime lead.
The Magic responded by introducing sweeping changes at the break, with van Dyk moving back to goal shoot and Jodi Brown and Tanya Lund introduced at goal attack and wing attack respectively.
The defence end also underwent a reshuffle.
As these combinations took time to settle, the Vixens rocketed ahead, stretching out a nine-goal lead heading into the final period.
Although the Magic launched a late comeback, reducing the deficit to five in the closing minutes, the Vixens always looked in control from there.
In last night's early game, the Canterbury Tactix overwhelmed the Central Pulse 54-48 in Christchurch.
